Swami Sivananda ‘oldest man ever’ says no sex, no spice, daily yoga key to age
Looking remarkably unlined for his claimed 125 years, an Indian monk who says he is the oldest man to have ever lived puts his longevity down to no sex or spices, and daily yoga.
Looking remarkably unlined for his claimed 125 years, a Hindu monk says he is the oldest man to have ever lived puts his longevity down to no sex or spices and daily yoga.
Swami Sivananda was born on August 8, 1896, according to his passport. If true, his life would have spanned three centuries, but despite his apparent age he remains strong enough to perform yoga for hours at a time.
He is now applying to Guinness World Records to verify his claim. It currently lists Japan’s Jiroemon Kimura, who died in June 2013 aged 116 years and 54 days, as the oldest man to have ever lived. According to the Guinness website, the oldest person ever recorded was France's Jeanne Louise Calment who died in 1997 at the age of 122 years and 164 days, having been born in February 1875.
India’s passport authorities confirmed Sivananda’s age from a temple register, the only record many Indians even decades younger have of their date of birth.
However it would be extremely difficult to independently verify his age.
Sivananda, from the holy city of Varanasi, grew up in extreme poverty and chose to become a monk, saying he owed his age to “yoga, discipline, and celibacy”.
“I lead a simple and disciplined life. I eat very simply -- only boiled food without oil or spices, rice and boiled daal (lentil stew) with a couple of green chillies”
